Deinotherium
Deinotherium was one of the most largest land animal of the Late Miocene-Middle Pliocene. The length of the body from different species ranged from 3.5-7 metres, and the height at the shoulders reaching 3-5 m (average 3.5-4 m), and weight can be up to 8-10 m. On the surface they resembled modern elephants but the proportions differed from them. Typically, the trunk was relatively hollow, shortened and remained at high, but massive columnar limbs, indicating they are somewhat different than other Proboscidea functions. The body is rather short on a long tail. Compared with other Proboscidea Deinotherium had a rather long and flexible neck, which allowed the structure to lift and bend its head and turn it from side to side. This structure is associated with the ability to lift its head up and make its tusks work. In the normal position of the head, it was positioned horizontally and was in the same place with the neck of the animal. It was perhaps one of the most biggest hairless elephants of all time. Taxonomy and evolution Deinotherium is the type genus of the family Deinotheriidae, which evolved from the smaller, early Miocene Prodeinotherium. These proboscideans represent a totally distinct line of evolutionary descent to that of other elephants, one that probably diverged very early in the history of the group as a whole. The large group to which elephants belong formerly contained several other related groups: besides the deinotheres, there were the gomphotheres (some of which had shovel-like lower front teeth), and the mastodons. Only elephants survive today. Three species are recognized, all of great size. Deinotherium giganteum is the type species, and is described above. It is primarily a late Miocene species, most common in Europe, and is the only species known from the circum-Mediterranean. Its last reported occurrence is from the middle Pliocene of Romania (2 to 4 million BP). An entire skull, found in the Lower Pliocene beds of Eppelsheim, Hesse-Darmstadt in 1836, measured 4 ft (1.2 m) in length and 3 ft (.9 meters) in breadth, indicating an animal exceeding modern elephants in size. Deinotherium indicum is the Asian species, known from India and Pakistan. It is distinguished by a more robust dentition and p4-m3 intravalley tubercles. D. indicum appears in the middle Miocene, and is most common in the late Miocene. It disappears from the fossil record about 7 million years BP (late Miocene). Deinotherium bozasi is the African species. It is characterized by a narrower rostral trough, a smaller but higher nasal aperture, a higher and narrower cranium, and a shorter mandibular symphysis, than the other two species. D. bozasi appears at the beginning of the late Miocene, and continues there after the other two species have died out elsewhere. The youngest fossils are from the Kanjera Formation, Kenya, about a million years old (early Pleistocene). Description Compared with the massive body, the skull of Deinotherium was relatively small, with the characteristic tusks in the lower jaw. Projecting from the jaw of the tusks could reach up to 1 m, but was usually smaller. It is not excluded that the tusks were playing an important role in the social life of these animals, acting, for example, as a tournament of arms of males in the breeding season but were used for getting food. Animals could bend down and break off branches from trees, as well as strip bark from tree trunks for eating. Today it is believed that they inhabited the woodlands and ate soft enough plants (e.g. leaves and fruits). The deinotheres were the gigantic cousins of the elephants and flourished at the time of Australopithecus. Tusks in the elephant family varied in shape and size as they adapted for different purposes. Wear marks on the downward curved tusks of Deinotherium suggest that they were probably used for stripping tree bark. With such a large increase in lifestyle and the ability to look up high were indispensable. Their food was taken down and brought to the mouth by the trunk; hooked lower tusks in feeding played a complementary role (for example, they helped to bend down and break off branches of trees). In addition, with tusks, animals could sometimes break down bark and soft inner bark. Obviously, it is the process of obtaining food somehow that was related to a significant mobility of the forelimbs, which could make Deinotherium get much more diverse movements than, say, modern elephants. We can assume that their department could seize carpal and turn down branches or small stems. Fossil finds Deinotherium remains, particularly their tusks and teeth have been found at the major hominid excavation sites where Australopithecus has also been found including Hadar, Laetoli, Olduvai Gorge and Lake Turkana. Paleoecology More about Deinotherium Category:Pliocene proboscideans Category:Extinct animals of Africa Category:Miocene proboscideans Category:Extinct animals of Europe Category:Pleistocene proboscideans Category:Proboscideans